It’s been 12-13 years since I was here in Steamboat Springs Colorado. I traveled down to pick up my brand new Hog Island Drift Boat. A few months prior I had fallen in love with the boats after demoing one for a few days. I also dug John St. John the owner of Hog Island. A real river peep kinds guy that has floated some amazing places and has stories for days of the beauty that makes up American Rivers. His passion for the rivers and what they can do to people, how they connect us to the planet and each other, and the struggles they face is above and beyond what you see in many people in the industry. A role model in that regard.
I met him when I was young and wet behind the ears with rowing rivers. But the Hog opened up a world to me I didn’t even know existed and I fell in love. My passion for fishing, the outdoors, and rowing rivers just compounded after buying the boat. I was an experienced kayaker and canoe paddler at that point. And had done some intense rafting. But the world of angles, and hydrology, and how a drift boat can move in syncopation with a river not just on top of it. The boat changed the way I fished and has turned me into a very experienced oarsmen.
There isn’t much that’s scares me in terms of water, respect yes, but fear no. I’ve hit a lot with that boat. Caught air, wrecked in class IIIs, done IV’s, 20,000 plus miles if river and it shows…both on the boat and me. It changes you when you spend so much time on river. Being here with John and in a place where the kind of life I live is fairly common with the locals it is comfortable here. Fellow river rats.
The boat is getting worked on, I am working a lot already this season, my girlfriend and I are in need of some time away, this trip and the ability to live this life is not taken for granted. I have had the privilege of experiencing some amazing things via my Hog Island Drift Boat, after the trip here and we are back on the homewater we hope to float another 20,000 river miles, and run hundreds more guide days. Book a day, cone out and see what being riverside is all about. See the fixed up Hog, and maybe catch a few wild trout.
There is that one stonefly in all of Riverdom that anglers have in the back of their minds as we transition out of spring and into summer. The Salmon Fly.
Talked about all across the west as June approaches. Here on the Yakima we get ours a little earlier. Due to our tailwater, and how our weather is here they tend to show up weeks before other rivers. The Salmon Fly is the biggest and the baddest stonefly in the river. They are ravenous, huge, and are the perfect food source after a long spring with runoff and spawning making trout hungry.
The salmon fly can live in the water column and substrate of the river for up to 4 years before it emergers as an adult. They eat everything. From algae when they are young, to vegetation, and also other bugs. Man do stoneflies love to munch on caddis! Throughout their lives they can grow up to 4 inches long. They can withstand intense pressure under rocks and substrate, they can swim, and they can even chow on small fish if they are so inclined.
Scrumptious
As water temps warm, the season changes, and the air temps rise, salmonflies begin thier river bank migration to hatch. They like water temps closer to 50 degrees, air temps over 60 and bright sunny days. Stoneflies, unlike caddis and mayflies do not hatch out of the water. They are bank amd vegetation hatchers. As the spring runoff moves through the river salmon fly nymphs begin to migrate en mass towards the bank. This is typically a nocturnal migration, happening early in the morning pre dawn and dawn. Much like their skwalla counterparts from March; they crawl and feed their way towards to shore and bank line. They emerge out of the water onto the grass, woody debris, and rocks.
There they drum their bodies and vibrate themselves out of their exoskeleton shuck wings first. They flap and pull themselves out of the nymphal shuck like a caterpillar into a butterfly, and emerge as an adult with 4 powerful big wings and one thing on their mind…procreation.
The females are larger and more abundant than the males. After the hatch. Males amd females drum and beat thier wings to find each other. This typically happens within a few feet of the bank as we are putting our boats in the morning. By the afternoon mating has usually been completed and male salmonflies die in the trees or grass, or are eaten by just about any critter that can get them. Birds, muskrat, fish, otter, frogs, you name it it will probably eat a salmonfly. Rich in protein and lots of calories they are a major food source for western River ecosystems.
McTwitchy Salmon Fly
After mating is finished, females stick around and develop an egg sac filled with more stonefly larvae for the next generation. The culmination of her existence of 4 seasons as a nymph just for a few hours of life as an adult to pass on genetics to the next generation. It’s amazing. Truly. If you can’t see that I invite you to come bare witness to the Salmon Fly Hatch.
As the air temps peak, around 3pm. The Salmon flies take flight. Better fliers than other stoneflies, but big and easy to spot, they launch from the banks and trees and flutter to the river surface to lay eggs. This is when trout key in on them for surface eats. An opportunistic eat, like a grasshopper, trout lie in wait along the banks and edges of the river waiting for these big insects to finish thier business. And trout will see to it that salmonflies meet a swift and violent end.
Trout are ravenous this time of year. Many are post spawn and hungry. Water temps have crept up so trout metabolism is higher meaning they need to eat more calories. Salmon Flies meet that need and then some. The takes on Salmon Fly dries are explosive. More so than skwallas due to warmer water temps. Trout are turbo charged and have no problem chasing down amd crushing the absolute fuck out of big orange and black bugs. Many times trout take multiple swipes at these bugs because they are so large and hard to eat. They need to be chewed and broken apart to swallow…unless your a really big trout with a toilet bowl for a mouth.
Its nice out in May
Its aggressive. It’s sexy, and it’s something that we see get really good every few seasons. Like other stoneflies, hatches are cyclical, like cicadas. Every 3 or 4 season the hatch is ridiculously big. We are due up for that this season and the river is telling me it’s gonna happen. Already seeing mass amounts of nymphs along the banks and already adults flying around. It’s early. Which means it’s probably gonna be big.
Salmonflies are just amazing to see let alone fish. They are massive! The size of a hummingbird. You can have some of the most explosive and violent dry fly takes during this hatch. But the nymphing can also be fantastic when they are on those migrating bugs under water prior to that hatch. It’s been 3 years since we’ve had a massive hatch of salmonflies and all us river peeps are patiently waiting for it turn on over the next 10 days.
Fishing has been pretty stellar in terms of spring fishing. I’ve had my hard days but as water temps get closer to 50 it only gets more consistent and that’s what really makes trout fishing good. Consistency.
Big bug, big troot
May hits and flows, temps, and bugs all settle into a normal rhythm. Sure the flows get high but fish are accustomed to the flows and water here. They will play the game if you will.
May is just starting to fill up. The river gets busy the closer we get to Memorial Day. Weekends fill up quick amd weekdays are sought after. Those anglers that want a shot at big stonefly dry eats take note. After Mother’s Day shit gets real. Those that missed the skwallas can find redemption in salmonflies.
I head to Colorado until the 5th. When I get back, we are hitting it hard. With 40 guide days already in the books we are chasing 200 guide days this season. Help this trout bummy guide hit that goal and come out for a trip this season. It’s good, you’ll learn something, and get to be face to face with some of the best and baddest wild trout around.
Chonkers
The Yakima River is one of the last true gem fisheries of Washington State. Most of our riverside fisheries are in turmoil due to commercial use, nets, bad management, lack of listening to science, the list is long. And while Kittitas County has its own slew of issues that pertain to the Yakima River, it is still on the right course for fisheries management. Yes we have access problems, and county officials that have thier head in the same about conservation amd usage issues, but our fishery isn’t on the decline like just about every other waterway. People coming out to experience and enjoy the river is still the best and most effective way to make sure it lasts and gets better.
Having epic slamonfly hatches is a testament to how good things are here. These bugs need a pristine ecosystem to hatch. We have that. All the work that’s been done on conservation and water management, salmon recovery, it’s all paying off by keeping the Yakima River as one of the best fisheries in the whole state, if not the best.
They eat nymphs too
Come out for a trip anglers. See what it’s all about, and maybe stick a nice one on a big salmon fly dry this May.
Well anglers….the spring fishing is just about over. In terms of trout and for my bummy ass, spring fishing ends when caddis show up. Gone are the days of wicked cold water temps, the waders get hung up and the chacos come out, and fishing altogether changes.
We’ve been running the slow water, the riffle tailouts, the back Eddie’s. Nymphing a good chunk of the day and crossing fingers for headhunting rising trout. It’s been a good spring for trouting. Since the skwallas started back in March the dry fly fishing has been fairly consistent by spring fishing standards. When skwallas wrapped up the mayflies came and the fish switched over and the past 2 weeks have been excellent for the spring. Even in the crap weather, yes we were dealt some tougher days. But still had good opportunity all around.
It’s been crazy busy for me. I’ve never done more than 24 trips between February and May. 38 so far seems like a staggering number compared to previous springs. Whoo!! Just chasing trips this year. And my clients have been good to me. Especially coming out of covid. I cannot thank everyone enough for coming out for trips.
It feels good tonhave hard work pay off over the seasons. The groove is much easier to find these days and it shows while on the water. Just plugged in and vibing with the Yakima. Juicy.
As we roll into May the river changes. She already is. With the salmon pulse this week and irrigation operations starting up the river is now getting a good dose of water from the reservoirs. She’s gonna be high now…for a while. Not summer time high but 3000 cfs and maybe more as we move things the next few weeks.
Fish will finish spawning. I timed my trip to Colorado for boat makeover with runoff and to let the fish finish their business. When I return we should be days away from thr Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch, or American Grannom Caddis. It’s amazing to witness and even better to fish and be a part of. Fish everywhere, dry flies, skating dries, swung soft hackles, so many ways to trick trout with Caddis during the hatch. We fish into the dusk hour as trout slurp in the dark. It’s really fun.
Another thing happens in mid May on the Yakima. We get Salmon Flies. The biggest and baddest of the stoneflies. We are due up for a decent hatch this season. It’s been a few years. We get ours when the air trmps start getting into the 60s and 70s. Usually mid to late May. Just big dry flies and ravenous post spawn trout wanting to munch. It can be really fun to watch amazing smashing takes on big dries during the salmon fly hatch. Much like skwallas but bigger, and with warmer water temps, hungrier trout, the takes are a little more robust!
So May is what’s coming. Lots of dry fly fishing, swinging picks up more trout due to warmer water temps and post spawn trout. That 50 degree water temp turns trout into missles. They hammer shit, and hold in faster water. It’s rad. Side channels fill up, fish move around more, wildlife really comes out, the trees green up, things really come alive in May. Come on out for a trip.
I’m back May 5th after Kearstyn and I get back from CO. With a handful of days already scheduled the pickings for dates are prime still. Caddis start that 2nd week fosho, and Salmonflies probably after the 15th. It’s looking like a good summer anglers. Lots of water and still tons of snow to melt. Come out and enjoy the fishing this season. It’s already need pretty Decent!
It’s April. It’s not my favorite month but has its sweet spots. The month brings wetter, gloomy weather that weeds out the weak. Fish spawn this month and into May. Water tempsmget closer to 50 degrees every day of the month. Trout eat more and more every day. Salmon smolt begin their seaward migration. The riverbanks come alive with spring green, there’s bud, cotton woods begin to sing in the rain and wind as the leaves grow. Birds and baby otters, little ducklings and gosling, frequent the river, life begins anew in April.
But the beauty of all that has its downside. The river is usually an unpredictable torrent of spring runoff, dam purges, and algae soup kicked up from the dams opening. We are a tailwater after all. Below the Teanaway River the Yakima can get angry in April. The snow locked valley begins to thaw and the largest Freestone tributary of the Yakima can rise upwards of 8000cfs when melt begins. This storm coming through this week helps greatly and our snow pack is in the 70s in April amd we want it in the 80 percentile. All that damn sunshine in March was nice but not so nice.
Being a tailwater the flows are somewhat controlled even when the Teanaway starts spewing. The flood plain restoration and work that’s been done in the headwaters of the Teanaway watershed over thr past decade is starting to show results with more normal spring runoff episodes. Above the Teanaway from thr Cle Elum River confluence to Lake Easton the river sees a few minor high water events until a salmon pulse is ordered or a purge needs to happen due to the reservoirs being at capacity. Salmon pulses mimic spring runoff and push smolt to the Columbia so that baby salmon can grow up to be food and fertilizer.
A lot of trout spawning occurs from the Teanaway confluence up to Lake Easton dam. I’ve chosen to fish less up river during the spawn which leaves me at the mercy of the Teanaway and purges but I, as well as others, have seen a vast improvement in quality of fish as well as quality since the 2020 closure during the spawn. Leave big fish alone during the spawn and they stuck around in the fall.
The hatches change this month as well. We transition out of the Skwalla Hatch which usually last into the 2nd week. Maybe longer. March Browns have ready started to percolate and will become the dominate food source for the rest of the month for most trout. Streamer fishing also ramps up due to water fluctuations, smolt getting pushed around, baby sculpin that have gotten fun sized since hatching, and big trout spawning like to eat meat. Caddis will also start to become a regular food source as flows tick up and down and warmer days and evenings settle in. Trout will begin feeding into the late hours of the evening as we get closer to May. Waiting to feed on caddis hatches at dusk. Also salmon fly stonrflies begin migrating for hatching in May as well. Nocturnal this also lends to thr evening feed with trout. We are due up for a big salmon fly hatch this season.
As we get into the month I watch the weather, flow, and wind charts like a hawk. Several times a day sometimes. The river and weather change a lot in April. We get new logs and jams like the new one below KOA or the blockage below state. Trout are moving and shaking a lot. Constantly and inconsistently changing and adapting to conditions. It’s can be a tougher month to fish but a very rewarding one with the colored trout, big trout, and really great dry fly fishing on the good days.
The river is up and a little blown, but is going to settle within a few days. Hopefully the higher elevations got that good 8 to 10 inches of snow they were calling for because we need it badly. I’m back on the river Thursday, river cooperating of course. I’ve got a good chunk of days coming up after this storm amd little water surge. No dam releases yet, Teanaway taking care of things for now. They’ve started priming irrigation but that really doesn’t start until May. April 15th they will start to open things up more irrigation wise.
We’ve got a few weekends open, 10th thru the 14th during this sweet little window coming up. And already taking trips for caddis in May. Full Days and Half Days are now open. $450 and $375. We also do walk and wades $275 in the upper river and lower Cle Elum. I leave for Colorado at the end of the month so get your trips in before I leave for a minute to get the boat fixed up. When booking in April we really look at the weather and forecasts when getting dates locked down so give me a call or email and get on the calendar!
Alrighty anglers! The hog, Kay, and I are headed to Steamboat at the end of April to get the old boat a big face-lift. It’s one of the longest running hogs on the water. It’s been over 10 years since I bought the boat.
In just the past 7 years, the boat and I have seen over 1200 trips. And 6000 to 10,000 river miles. Before guiding, I infloated quite a bit and traveled to a few dozen different rivers to float. We’ve run class IV, floated wide steelhead rivers in Oregon, the short torrent rivers of the OP, Montana…there’s just a dozen or so we’ve done. Like the Gallatin, Blackfoot, Bitterroot, Clarki, Rock Creek, the MO. I’ve seen rivers in Wyoming like the Snake, and we’ve fished national parks, lakes, in Idaho, the Boise, the Snake, St. Joe, just to name a few. We’ve seen a lot together. I want to keep her going so she’s getting some much needed love to extend her life for another 10 plus seasons.
So, get your dates on the calendar for April. I’m leaving the 30th, back May 4th in time to get ready for Caddis and the season really ramping up.
I’ll see ya riverside this season anglers. And the hog will have a little touch up here by the summer.
The river flows crested overnight, and we are in F’ing business anglers! It’s going to start dropping this evening. Shit is about to get real! I’ve got the weekend booked, but the 7th through the 10th is open and looking at this chart. Those are some good-looking days and anglers. Really good…like fucken Magic good. So get on the calendar with them! Skwallas are going to pop hard, bwos, and that streamer grab awww ya. Reserve today! For real! We call it skwalla holla for a reason. Drop everything and chase it!
I can feel it in the troutesphere…there will be skwalla eats in the future. There is something to behold when you see a big wild trout take a skwalla dry fly off the surface. Mmmm.
Trout have been wintering sipping little bugs and the occasional sculpin or worm. Not the most appealing diet, and if you think trout don’t have picky tastes in their food you haven’t fished enough.
Like most critters, trout are opportunistic but also one of the most adapted creatures to their environment. They know things anglers could only dream of knowing. What they see, move, hear, feel the aquatic world is astounding. As an angler I am always striving to understand trout more. Over the years, I have come to understand a great deal about trout especially when it pertains to eating bugs off the surface.
It’s no secret as an angler; I am a dry fly fisherman. It’s my favorite; it’s what I’m best at and presents the most challenging encounters with Yakima River Trout I’ve ever experienced both personally and guiding. I’ve spent the better part of my angling career fine tuning dry fly fishing. As a guide, I’ve spent a good amount of my hours teaching, working, and opening up the world of dry fly fishing to clients.
It’s not just a thing we do for 20% of the day. When I worked for outfitters, I was told and expected to only target dry fly fishing for 20% of the day. What a waste of a day. There are just as many trout up on top as underneath once water temps are up above 42 and even better above 50. Once we get those conditions, we are hunting on dries. It works here. Trout on this river are wary of the dry. You have to be patient and precise, and you have to read water really well. Not just position and presentation, the timing of the drift, the amount of lead time to the fish, angles of approach when one doesn’t work, sun, shade, cover, so much goes into a dry eat. It takes work on both ends, client and guide. When it comes together, it’s fucken magical.
Trout only get stupid a few times a season for dry flies. We see it during hoppers, drakes, ants sometimes. We even see amazing feeding during mayfly hatches but there is one time a year….when trout go absolutely bonkers for top water flies….Skwallas.
Maybe it’s because they’ve been hibernating all winter eating shit that tastes like dirt and is little. Skwallas taste like bacon for a trout coming outta the winter months, and they are huge compared to other bugs. The first big bug of the year. Of course it corresponds with spawning, water temps coming up, spring runoff, all these things that make trout need a larger, more robust food source come together in the first few weeks of the spring season on most western rivers. The Yak is no different.
Trout, get pushed around from the runoff. Trout are looking for territory, areas where they can feed, swim, feel safe, and move about the system. Trout, don’t sit still; they are constantly moving and seeking out places that give them food, cover, and oxygen. In the spring, everything has oxygen, so those places with cover and food become easier to find. It’s still cold for a trout, but not that cold. 42 to 50 degree water is equivalent to our 50 to 60 degree days. Pretty comfortable. Trout are hungry and are now prepping for the spawn, the heavy flows, and the pressure of nature like predators…survival kinda stuff. It all begins in the spring. Right when this big easy to find, easy to eat food source becomes readily available. Skwallas.
They hatch on the bank and lay eggs on the water. Fish are all about big twitchy bugs in the soft water along the swollen banks of a springtime river. The way these trout eat skwallas is something else. Like a grasshopper eat, but in March. Trout lie in wait sometimes coming 4 to 6 ft to the surface to eat a skwalla. When a fish moves that much to the surface, it’s explosive! A 2lbs trout moving at top speed for a skwalla will lunge out of the river, literally crushing the bug with its head and shoulders as it eats it. It’s like trout forget how to eat big bugs over the winter. They expose themselves, give up position, and fight and jockey for the best areas to feed on these bugs. Trout will hold in an area, sometimes for a few days, other times a few weeks. It depends on the species, water conditions, and that sort of thing. They can be larger area for a good number of fish or they can be small tight areas only for a few fish. Water reading becomes a key to dry fly hunting.
We get a 10-day 2-week window that this process happens over with our trout. It’s the start of their season too. And skwallas are a great way to usher it all in.
Nothing quite like rolling up on a good 100 yard spot of bank with overhanging brush, maybe a stick and log or two in there, some good sized rocks 2 to 4 feet down 6 feet off the bank. That slow walking speed water that’s just a little swollen from about 400 cfs of runoff in the river. Mmmm, juicy stuff. Those precise casts tight to the bank twitched 2 to 3 feet off the grass line, a big trout underneath watching, waiting to face punch that fly. It twitches one last time almost put of range for the fish to want to eat it… But it’s spring, and that troot is hungry.
Just before you get ready to pick up for another cast….a violent splash occurs as a pink banded leviathan with a set of big green, black spotted shoulders launches out of the river! There is panic, there is tension, and there is a trout in the air 15 feet from the boat with a fake ass bug hanging in its face! It’s like a stick of dynamite goes off under your fly sometimes! It’s amazing.
I’ve had the good fortune of experiencing skwallas many times on the Yak and other rivers. It’s the same no matter where….trout love that bug. Anglers who have been in a skwalla hatch know…its something else. I have many fond memories of skwalla days over the years. A day where 5 to 10 large, and I mean, large ass fish decide to fuck up some skwallas. The kind of fish getting ready to make more fish….ya….the good ones.
Its here anglers…all those things are lining up. And although I do love to experience dry fly fishing on skwallas for myself…its a lot more fun, and more challenging for me…when I’m guiding during it.
I guess that’s what separates guides from anglers. I’d prefer to guide skwallas instead of fishing them myself. Maybe it’s a bit of “been there done that,” for me, but really, I just get a kick outta being in the cockpit of the drift boat, not the horns. Oars in hands not a fly rod. I can’t fish and row at the same time.
The hunt is on, for those big dry fly eats, for trips on the calendar, for that one trout this spring that just never gets topped all season. A handful of clients know what I’m talking about….there’s always one fish that gets landed in the spring that’s pushing 20-22 inches. The biggest and baddest troot…always happens in the spring, and we spend all season trying to find another one. Maybe you could land that fish this season.
Come on out. Skwalla pop this weekend, and I’ve got the 7th through the 10th open next week during what looks like could be the peak of the skwallas in the lower river. Who’s coming? Land that big trout for me and help me lose my mind on dry fly eats.
Those of you anglers that watch the flows know that some shit is coming. Our first big runnoff event on the spring is starting as I’m typing this.
This river is forecasted to hit around 7000 to 8000 cfs over the next few days. It’s already moving up as the rain comes in, snow melts, and the warmer temps slide in. We have already seen the weather shift to muggy and warmer than it was a week ago during the cold snap. It feels like a Blue Wing Olive kind of day.
This is awesome for fishing. Yeah, it sucks we have to sit it out for a few days, but by the 3rd, we start to see the flows drop. Which is money. The river in the spring up around 2200 to 2800 is damn near perfect flows. Especially after a drop. By the 7th, the flows are predicted to go back down to 2000. So a big flush is coming and we need it. The rest of the lowland snow will melt, groundwater will swell, and we will see our consistent above 2000 flows start to hang out.
You always want to fish the drops. Fish displace and have to seek out refuge, pod up, and hunker down for the heavy water. Like hunkering down for a snowstorm for us. After things start to subside, those fish are hungry, cranky, and tired of being stuck together in big pods. They wanna spread out and get into those smaller feeding pods of 15 to 30. Not 50 plus. They start to look for territory for the spring, and they also feed for spawning. It’s all happening this week. Trout getting trooty anglers.
Clients on the calendar are in for a treat as these conditions slowly materialize. I’m internally giddy and stoke AF to fish three next 3 weeks. It’s going to be sweet; all the stuff and things that make for good trooting are coming together.
There is rain in the forecast; we have 45 plus degree air temps. Overnight lows aren’t freezing; mmmm…fishy. The muggy rain is here; overcast skies. BWOs hatch in this stuff, especially after a flush. Skwallas are going to pop after this flush. The huge push in water is going to help move the nymph colonies into the banks of the river and get the hatch going.
I’m telling ya anglers; this shit is coming, and it’s going to be glorious. If you want to get the dry fly, eat, skwalla holla, pick sippers with mayfly dries, soft hackles swinging, streamer tugs, and a big ass indicator take downs nymphing. Fish get ravenous after a flush, and the water temps are going to hit 42, plus they are going to be like fat trout misses to the fly!
The calendar is filling, but I’ve got some opening during this sweet trooty, juicy time headed on way.
March 7th to the 10th right during this week stuff is open. Those weekdays have fewer people, more troot for you.
March 17th is open for a special discount of $275. St. Patty’s Day and the only day open in 11. I just want that day filled, so I get 11 days in a row!
I also have a Spring Wade Fishing Clinic on March 20th with 6 spots open!
March 22nd through the 25th is also open during the skwalla hatch. After that, it will probably start to subsides and switch to mayflies.
So there you have it. Got to sit for a few days as the river flushes. Get on it, hoard, when it starts to drop on Thursday/Friday. Skwalla Special $325.00 is running through March!
Call, email, text to reserve. Super stoked to get out there this spring. Let’s go anglers!!! Time to chase TROOT!
Trips are rolling in, and dates are filling up. Time for the monthly last open dates post.
For March, here iz what’s open!
March 7th through the 10th.
March 17th St. Patty’s Day. Running a special price trip that day for $275.00. Save an extra $50 bucks cuz it’s the only day open from the 11th to the 21st, and I want a big run of trips during skwallas! Get it before someone else does.
I’ve got a Spring Fishing Wade Clinic on the 20th with open spots!
March 22nd through the 25th.
March 28th through the 31st. Which is the last work for skwallas, and we start running regular full days in April, so get in on that Skwalla Special $375.00 pricing before it’s too late.
Dates are open after March, of course, but things have been filling up quickly, and it’s only gonna get busier. Weekends are booking weeks and months out this season. It’s kind of crazy! Wooo!
As per usual, the Yakima is being cold-hearted. Winter was like, “Oh, you all wanna go fishing and have skwallas in February…well that’s just too damn bad!”
Last week, I saw my first few skwallas fluttering around. Like 4 bugs. We lost our cool a little, but it was too chill and a bit too early still. Insert big sigh…
Even right now, it’s absolutely gorgeous out. Sunny, but fuck me, it’s cold. Like 25 degrees cold. And it’s always cooler riverside. Water temps are still around 40. Needs to come up a tad. The sun helps. It keeps the water temps stable until this weather snaps to warmer. We saw a 60-plus degree air temp last week. Little tease of what’s to come..here next Monday. And yes, like every skwalla hatch it’s a crapshoot, and one of those should be next week kind of things…damn weather.
That being said, it is going to happen. We needed this rush of frigid air. Really seal in all the stuff that melted soft up on those mountains. We want our snow pack to be like that hard to get out of the freezer shit. That way, it won’t all melt in April and blow the river out for a month. It still could happen, but extended forecasts say otherwise.
I’ve done my homework. I looked at all the charts, blogs, and noaa stuff. It’s looking pretty normal. This cold snap and snow up high are pretty normal. Little later than usual and slightly colder than average, but meh…not too bad. But the real focus is the next two weeks. I promise this time.
Cold will move through by the weekend. It’s going to be single digits; it’s gonna snow through the 28th. But then it breaks. Finally. We will see 40 plus degree days with lows in the mid to high 20s. Which is awesome. 60 degrees feels amazing, but it’s March. I’ll take 50 degrees and a little muggy with the moisture and melt. We also need things to melt slowly. Not all at once. We don’t need 8000 cfs in the river. Fucks the whole process up! This is one of those things about guiding that still after 8 seasons stresses me out. One super power…control the weather. Is it too much to ask for?
Skwallas will come that first week of March. May not peak until near the end of the second with the current forecasts. We see a slight uptick in flows closer to 1500 2000 cfs that first work of March…that shit is money! Gets cold, warms up just a bit, moves fish, brings temps slowly up to 42-45, fish transition to spawning easily and naturally like they’ve got to the past 2 seasons…it all has the makings for awesomeness. This is why the calendar is almost full. Wooo.
However. There’s a lot of weekdays open during those first 2 weeks still. And I can’t catch all the fish on skwallas myself. It’s better 2 at a time. The river is busy on the weekends, obviously, so I push for weekday trips.
The dates that are still open during this time frame we are discussing above are:
March 1st-3rd. March 6th-10th these four days….mmmm…they look real good! And the 16th and 17th. I also have another Clinic on March 20th that is open.
After that, skwallas will probably wane; fish will eat em, but the hatch will have peaked. Bwos aren’t far off either, and we should see them in the afternoons next week, too! Dry flies!
After the 20th, skwallas will wane, but fish will still eat them. Bwos should start next week in the afternoons, too. March Browns aren’t far off. As the water warms and fish start to move around and transition for spawning, the swinging will only get better. We’ve consistently got into at least 1 good one every time we put some time in, which will improve over the next 2 months. That cold weather made those fish super sleepy, and that warming trend we had for a few weeks just wasn’t quite enough to jumpstart us as early as we all would have preferred.
But it means we have a good snow pack, and trout have gotten fat and happy the past month eating nymphs and slow slurping sculpin. All the fish have been fat the past 2-3 weeks. A little different than a month plus ago when they were a little snakey, coming out of the winter. As the flows change and temps come up…they have to eat even more. Awwww ya!
So there it is, my breakdown of the next few weeks of what fishing should look like. Flows might get close to 2500 2700 cfs by mid-March. Which is just peachy with me. Pushes shit around and puts fish in the obvious water in the upper. Mmmm.
So let’s fill up some more dates and chase trout anglers. These conditions are looking mighty appealing. Come out and take a crack at skwalla and swinging and all that troots stuff we river people do.
Skwalls special runs through March. $325 for 2 anglers. Come get some!
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